Artifact #1 lyrics - Conor Oberst

What would it take to gain acceptance
To the grounds behind your eyes
You know I'm open to suggestion
The one you made we never tried

You let it slip right out from under
Your breath and it rolled around my head
It was nothing I'd consider
I knew it had to happen then

Stood on the banks of the Potomac
We watched the water rushing by
You said we should live in the moment
But then I'd miss you all the time

And I know no one will believe me
But I don't want a second chance
To be an object of desire
If that means slipping through your hands

If I had tried to make you mine
You would have walked away
Life can't compete with memories
That never have to change

This world is full of missing persons
All of these unsolved mysteries
If someone says they know for certain
They are selling something certainly

So when I set myself to wonder
On all the questions that remain
The only one that even matters
Is when I'll see your face again

I keep looking back for artifacts
To prove that you were here
The sound that's been keeps echoing
It never disappears

Lonely At The Top lyrics - Conor Oberst

It's lonely at the top of the upside mountain
Watch the sunrise from a windowless room
If the Paramedics stall the soul goes on
Without them in a wicker basket tied to a balloon

There are no boundaries to love
The heart can't comprehend the panorama
I took it on the chin from some second hand feeling
Sorrow handed down to me it felt brand new

Tiny violins or some summer insects listening
Another season leaving us too soon
Freedom's the opposite of love
You'll never keep it through the paranoia

Standing on the edge of a million landscapes
Emptying and the water from the glacier fills my shoes
Laying in your bed my dreams are sex and violence
I chase the rapist chasing after you

There is no dignity in love
Trade every scrap to get some absolution
'Til then I'm walking out the door
'Til then I'm running through the airport
'Til then i'm waiting around for no one

Enola Gay lyrics - Conor Oberst

He didn't give you that nickname
But you smile when he calls you the Enola Gay
Turns the lights down low for your migraines
And fetches what you've strewn
All around the room up and down the hall
Asking for your Sodium Pentathol
So you can read aloud from your big tell-all
Anecdotes in platitudes

This world's mean getting meaner too
So why'd you have to make it all about you
There's no harm in stepping to the side
Light your hurricane lamp when the sky grows dark
The wind's pissed off and the sun's at large
What you've gotta do, it's just a matter of pride
Until you vanish like the rest, out of sight and out of mind

Working all day in the control room
Mashing Charles Manson songs up with Showtunes
The feelings come quick but they leave as soon
Like music from a passing car
It's crowded in the club where you meet your friends
Try to save some room for the elephant
Every day's a chore and you're not done yet
You didn't think it'd be this hard

The root's begun, we're a nervous crew
So why're you trying to make it all about you
It's not so bad, it's just a flash of light
Light your hurricane lamp when the sky goes dark
The rain's upset, it just falls apart
You will get your wish, it's just a matter of time
Until you vanish like the rest, out of sight and out of mind
Until you vanish like the rest, out of sight

Double Life lyrics - Conor Oberst

It ain't perfect nothing is
There's still room to grow
Feeling different staying in
Made a little home
So when I sit back in my chair
As the evening waits
I don't remember getting here
But I'm glad I came

Don't look down just cross the bridge
And when you get there
You'll know why you did
There's a better life on the other side
It's your double life on the other side
It's your second life on the other side

It ain't simple like before
These are different times
No longer worried about getting bored
Just trying to clear my mind
From all the noise out there
All the spooks all the moving parts
Cameras everywhere I look imitating art

Don't look down just cross the bridge
And when you get there
You'll be glad did
There's a better life on the other side
There's an honest life on the other side
It's your double life
It's your second life on the other side
There's an honest life on the other side

Kick lyrics - Conor Oberst

Kick you know you're still a kid
And your diets too full of additives
Passed out on a couch with ashes in your mouth
Dreaming that you're hopping a fence
This world must have it out for you
From the shores of Montaca to Malibu
The trappings of a name you never could escape
Because people want to live in the past
Some goal they mentioned they never had

I thought we lost that Camelot
I thought we lost that Camelot
It's a children's story we forgot
So long ago

Kick it's hard to find a friend
In a place that's so cruel and partisan
But you should go in style to Stockholm for a while
Live outside oblivion's lent
Someday you'll have a fine divorce
And a cemetery plot in Johannesburg
It's time you close your eyes
On a helicopter ride
I hope you see it isn't your fault
I hope you know it isn't your fault

I thought they shot that Camelot
I thought they shot that Camelot
Whoever shot this movie star he grows
And the show must go on

Laying in an office on an old chaise lounge
Listening to the doctor drone
No therapeutic feeling once the shock wears off
Answer every question no
Hiding in a hammock with the shades pulled down
Wondering if the stories broke
Tragedy is prophet once the word gets out
Tablets at the country store
Searching under tables once the bars closed down
Said somebody stole your phone
Now there's no one to talk to but these trust fund drunks
Should have brought a chaperon

Kick I'd love to help you but I just don't count
Friendship makes you paranoid
I don't believe in crescents
But I just might now we never really had a choice
Like all your broken toys

Kick you know this life is rich
But pleasures not the same as happiness
If you don't collide with the traffic in your mind
I think you'll find your way out of this
I hope you find your way out of this

Night At Lake Unknown lyrics - Conor Oberst

It don't take much imagination
To see the picture frame
I don't need a concentration
To know when I'm in pain
When I lost myself I lost you by extension
I don't know who would stand to gain

These silly dreams aren't worth a mention
But they keep collecting in my brain
When on the hunt for fame and fortune
Picked up the trail just fine
Everywhere I go the doors fly open
But I run out once outside
When I break my heart I know that yours gets broken
I just wish that kept me in line
But I can't live outside the moment
And it just keeps leaving me behind
It just keeps leaving me behind

When I can't sleep my mind is a circle
I watched the ceiling fan
I closed my eyes and I feel the wind blow
My bed it turns into a raft
I drift away it's night at lake unknown I'm floating
I see it all for what it is
Most anything can be forgiven
With what is left we'll have to live
With what is left we'll have to live

You Are Your Mother's Child lyrics - Conor Oberst

I remember the day you appeared on this earth
With eyes like the ocean, got blood on my shirt
From my camera angle it looked like it hurt
But your mama had a big old smile

We drove you home, saw your yellowing skin
Packed a few things and drove you back again
Stayed up all night worrying, wondering
What was gonna make it better

Broken bones heal if you set them right
Get that fine tooth comb from the barbicide
Our love's a protective poison
But you are your mother's child
And she'll keep you for a while
Oh, one day you'll be grown, then you'll be on your own

Halloween costume, looking real cute
With your pillowcase full, in your astronaut suit
Your cousin the cowboy is eyeing your loot
Better watch that Snickers bar

Out on the diamond, and you're up to bat
Chewing your big league, adjusting your hat
Taking a swing and hearing it crack
Look at that apple fly

Tears will dry if you give them time
Life's a roller coaster, keep your arms inside
Fear that's a big emotion
But you are your mother's child
She'll keep you for a while
But someday you'll be grown, then you'll be on your own

Posing for pictures, cap and a gown
Summer is coming, you're driving around town
Everyone's asking what you're gonna do now
I know you're gonna make a splash

And find you a sweetheart to treat you so kind
Take her to dinner and kiss her goodnight
What I couldn't teach you, soon you'll realize
She's the only thing that matters

Although he's a bastard, make your papa proud
You're a fine young man and I got no doubt
That you're gonna do this better
Cause you are your mother's child
She had you for a while
But now you are grown and you're making it on your own
Now that you're grown, may you never feel this alone

Governor's Ball lyrics - Conor Oberst

He came with his friends, in a caravan
To witness the governor's ball
Sat by himself on a cool patch of grass
While the rest stood like bricks in a wall
The stage it looked like a vending machine
The singer, a black barbie doll
But it was well light, and well managed
Said our property, would be damaged
Until his boredom, took full advantage
Of it all

Talk to a girl, with klonopin eyes
Who said she had jewelry to sell
First he said no thanks, then he realized
That he realized he wasn't feeling that well
And he took what she held looked like pieces of sky
And a garnet like teardrops from hell
She offered, him a necklace, and he wanted to accept it
But it would end up, too expensive, he could tell
Then she said:
"Why not, what have you got, to lose, to lose"

When he never came back, and the curve you have pathed
His friends searched the fair grounds for clues
But security guard the maniacal laugh
Said its always the leader you lose
And he finally turned up in the broad light of day
With a black eye as big as the moon
They all asked him, what had happened
Was it real or, imagined
Why on earth had, he abandon them so soon
And he said:
"Why not, I do what I've got, to do, its what you do"

Desert Island Questionnaire lyrics - Conor Oberst

Say that you were stranded on a desert island
What books you gonna bring what friends would tag along
Say you had a month and you knew you were dying
How would you spend your time
What goodbyes would take too long
You don't like this game and you take exception
Who wants all this trouble even hypothetical
With the charging sky above
And the ground below that could swallow everyone

Staring at your phone at another party
Spend a lot on clothes got a lot of skin to show
People in the pool like the drowning army
Smoke along the moats and the hotel lobby glows
Wish that you can dance but you've got no partner
Keep tapping on your glass because you want to make a toast
To the ennui of our times
To the selfishness in everyone you know
Made a lot of friends but they can't be trusted
Don't know what their angle is
Post up at the bar and I'm double fisting
Talking to a mannequin
I don't know what it means when he takes my pulse
And says that I'm a lot like him
I say that's fair enough that's why I'm trying to loosen up

Every lunatic must be well intentioned
Sets himself apart he's an instrument of God
Took her from the playground to the farmhouse cellar
Kissed her while he killed her like a good Samaritan
They finally found her body many Autumns after
Interviewed her mother who said "she'd now be 21
And although we lost her young
I know the good lord has a plan for all of us"

Mormons at the door they look clean and handsome
Always have a good sales pitch
Your little sister swears she can paint my aura
But I can't take her serious
Need something to blame
For this human nature, is that what this condition is?
I'm so bored with my life but I'm still afraid to die
Everyone's asleep in this burning building
And I can't wake them up in time
You go on ahead I'll be right behind you
We're headed to the finish line
I can't get closer until this is over

Pretend that you were stranded on a desert island
What would be the message that you'd spell out for the plane
Say the engine failed when that plane was flying
If you were the pilot would you curse or would you pray
No one's gonna cry at this John Doe funeral
Not a lot to say didn't even have a name
Light a candle just in case he was someone's friend
Throw some flowers on the grave

Common Knowledge lyrics - Conor Oberst

He's my friend but he's no friend to me
Ask him why, he'll tell you casually
Washed up, bitter, broken, busted
Backstabbed everyone he trusted
Says he sees what no one else can see
And if I had half his guts I'd want it
To chase that fatalistic comet
Die young in the dark; that's poetry
But it was not to be, it was not for me

He's always sad but I've never seen him cry
When he comes to, sure he'll apologize
Find his car, assess the damage
Still drunk but he likes the challenge
Hold on to his mind just like a kite
But a good strong win can keep you honest
Fill you with some common knowledge
Things when we were young we never tried
Just figured we had time with such a long life

Money clips, alligator shoes
One more dance, he's in that champagne room
She moves like a chocolate fountain
Pouring, spilling all around him
Makes him wonder what else she can do
How bittersweet is love's illusion
Feelings that cannot be proven
Trust me, you'll see, my aim is true
I've done this all for you, I've suffered long for you

So many times he's tried to play it straight
Worked and worked until his body ached
But a brand new life can lose its lustre
Troubles tend to find each other
Call it luck or you can call it fate
But either way it's how it happens
Not the way that you imagined
So just go out with a bang like Hemingway
Some will say you're brave
Some will say you ain't

"One Of My Kind" (2012)

One Of My Kind lyrics - Conor Oberst

I can't live in this city
But I was born here
And I know all these people
Where they went to high school
Where they got their angle
Here they waited tables
Still call me brother
Like Cain and Abel

There, see all those old men
How'd they get so swollen?
I got so many broke friends
Who say I owe them
From when we were children
How did it happen?
Where is it going?
Is that your question, man?
Where does all your frustration lie?
Why are you pulling out your hair at night?
Just try and have a good time
All the rest aside
You're still one of my kind

I can't think in this city
But I remember
I know every story that it ever told me
Well, I got the blueprint
To create my own myth
That's what made it tragic
Like a summer snowdrift

Yeah, going to call my first love
Meet her at the new club
Tell her all that I've done
Finally be forgiven
And get good and drunk
Like it feels you're young
There are things against us
But I will fight tooth and nail
Stand in the sickening sunshine
After staying out all night
And maybe it's the good life
All the rest aside
The rest aside
The rest aside
You're still one of my kind

I can't live in this city
But I'll probably die here
Maybe that's how you feel
Like a poisoned cornfield
Like a best friend backstabbed
An abandoned train track
We're living straight-lined
Are you one of my kind?

Gentleman's Pact lyrics - Conor Oberst

I was lost for a while in a mirrored hallway of a high-rise hotel
Umbrella drink in my hand, sitting down
Saw ten thousand me's, numb cocaine teeth in their chattering mouths
Thought about home, thought about death, thought about moving south
Rodeo wind blew in, now the candle's out and everyone's scared
Call my broker, sell everything, I want to be prepared
Heard the cavalry cry of my girl for the night when I entered her
Sounded so fake, always feels fake, finishes and then it feels worse

Every hallway has a camera
Every hallway has a camera don't you know
They never let you open the window
They never let you open the window

Smoke signals of thought, white ribbons of loss
High above the tree line, they cry out

I froze up for a second on the pyramid side of the Las Vegas strip
My brother hunched over in the bushes getting sick
Security knew took one look and threw us out
Life's not fair
I tried to die young with my true love, ended up a millionaire
The mechanical world, a loud sound you've never heard that's always there
Radio's trailing through the desert, keep driving until you disappear
We made a gentlemen's pact: no stopping, no looking back
Lace those shoes.
Take the first step
Take the next step
That's a boy!
It is never too soon

All that you keep is the journey, all you keep are the spaces in between
It's not the fresh start or the ending
All that you keep is the journey

Smoke rings round my thoughts
Blue ribbons at the dawn
High beyond the tree line we pass out
Smoke signals of thought, white ribbons of loss
High above the tree line they cry out

Corina, Corina lyrics - Conor Oberst

Corina, Corina
Where you been so long?
Corina, Corina
Where you been so long?
I've been so worried about you, coquito
When are you coming home?

Corina, Corina
Where did you sleep last night?
You come back around this morning
Clothes don't fit you right

I got a bird that whistles
I got a bird that sings
I got a bird that whistles
I got a bird that sings
Oh without you Corina, this life don't mean a thing

Corina, Corina
Listen, you make me blue
Corina, Corina
Listen, you make me blue
Miss Figueroa-Escamilla
Hey, I'm talking to you!

Corina, Corina
Where have you been so long?
Mi querida, Corina
Where you been so long?

You're way out there in Toluca
I'm trapped in Tepoztlán
You're way out there in Toluca
I'm trapped in Tepoztlán

Synesthete Song lyrics - Conor Oberst

Harbor Ann, take me as I am
A flame reduced to ash
Laugh as my youth is taken from me
Winter's day, am I in your way?
You press against my skin
All the flowery speeches ended fast
Clinking glass
The champagne made my head feel light
And overcast the stars
Paper crane, tell me it's OK
An opera glasses view
Kaleidoscope of now and never
Gaia's love, schizophrenia
The devil's in my coat
Mothership coming to pick me up
Just my luck
They got my house surrounded
I'm the only one I trust

The dark light of man
The dark let him in

Synesthete, can I confide in thee?
The color is the sound
The screams were orange
My footsteps silver
Secret plan, man, I'll tell you if I can
The evils of this world are at your doorstep
Let me enter, friend, understand
We have come to the convergence
Now all the paths combine